Not bad at all. I'll give you the tick if no one has any better suggests soon :). I'd up vote you but I need 15 reputation.
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Ferdia O'BrienAug 9 '11 at 21:04

10

+1 for nonentity, but (if you agree with me) you might add that people whose vocabulary doesn't stretch that far are quite prone to call a nonentity a nobody.
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FumbleFingersAug 9 '11 at 21:11

While I think this is clever, I think it bears too much of an emotional impact to be used in normal conversation. Calling someone a nonentity feels more like you are saying they literally don't exist...vs. describing them as someone who doesn't leave a lasting or significant impression. I think the selected answers "nondescript" is probably the best term, as it doesn't leave any question as to the persons existence...just their impression.
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jristaAug 14 '11 at 2:51

I'm not sure whether this applies to or makes sense in English. But the question reminded me instantly of a Japanese word. We call an unimpressive person Kagega Usui hito (影が薄い人) meaning person with thin shadow. The person doesn't have his presence even on his own shadow!

I tend to remember people who fall under that catagory to insure I'm not subjected to it again. I'm trying to get a word for someone who is neither boring nor interesting.
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Ferdia O'BrienAug 9 '11 at 21:04

Good point. In that case, I really like @chaosys' suggestion of "bland." (Funny thing -- I will probably remember "bland" somewhat vividly now!)
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Randolf RichardsonAug 9 '11 at 22:01

@Randolf: I also downvoted potato if that makes you feel better. I just don't like downvoting 3 answers at once (also because the SO system does not like serial downvoting). Dull has a slightly different acception, IMO, as it can also mean indistinct and muffled, although probably not referring to a person.
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nicoAug 11 '11 at 9:18

That word often means "a homeless person", so probably isn't what you want to say.
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Mr. Shiny and New 安宇Aug 10 '11 at 16:27

Although it means 'for a brief time', in most legal situations, it effectively means mobile or doesn't maintain a fixed location. eg, 'transient merchants', 'transient workers' (aka migrant labor). It suggests more that the person doesn't stay, rather than the memory of them doesn't persist.
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JoeAug 12 '11 at 16:01

I never use the term for a homeless person. I've always used it to mean for a short time.... ie no trace left behind
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Preet SanghaAug 13 '11 at 7:14

1

Transient means that the person is going to disappear soon. "Adjective: Lasting only for a short time; impermanent." (Your memory of the person may be transient, but the person is probably not transient.)
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ShreevatsaRAug 15 '11 at 17:24